Gyimes, Istvan Laszlo and Valentini, Elia (2023) Reminders of Mortality: Investigating the Effects of Different Mortality Saliences on Somatosensory Neural Activity. Brain Sciences, 13 (7). p. 1077. DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci13071077
Gyimes, Istvan Laszlo and Valentini, Elia (2023) Reminders of Mortality: Investigating the Effects of Different Mortality Saliences on Somatosensory Neural Activity. Brain Sciences, 13 (7). p. 1077. DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci13071077
Gyimes, Istvan Laszlo and Valentini, Elia (2023) Reminders of Mortality: Investigating the Effects of Different Mortality Saliences on Somatosensory Neural Activity. Brain Sciences, 13 (7). p. 1077. DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci13071077
Abstract
The Terror Management Theory (TMT) offered a great deal of generative hypotheses that have been tested in a plethora of studies. However, there is a still substantive lack of clarity about the interpretation of TMT-driven effects and their underlying neurological mechanisms. Here, we aimed to expand upon previous research by introducing two novel methodological manipulations aimed to enhance the effects of mortality salience (MS). We presented participants with the idea of the participants’ romantic partner’s death as well as increased the perceived threat of somatosensory stimuli. Linear mixed modelling disclosed the greater effects of MS directed at one’s romantic partner on pain perception (as opposed to the participant’s own mortality). The theta event-related oscillatory activity measured at the vertex of the scalp was significantly lower compared to the control condition. We suggest that MS aimed at one’s romantic partner can result in increased effects on perceptual experience; however, the underlying neural activities are not reflected by a classical measure of cortical arousal.
Item Type: | Article |
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Uncontrolled Keywords: | mortality salience; existential anxiety; EEG; pain; somatosensory perception; event-related theta activity |
Subjects: | Z Bibliography. Library Science. Information Resources > ZZ OA Fund (articles) |
Divisions: | Faculty of Science and Health Faculty of Science and Health > Psychology, Department of |
SWORD Depositor: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Depositing User: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Date Deposited: | 31 Jul 2023 12:14 |
Last Modified: | 16 May 2024 21:56 |
URI: | http://repository.essex.ac.uk/id/eprint/36049 |
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Filename: Gyimes&Valentini_BS_23.pdf
Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0